Alchatek Blog

Today’s guest blogger is Bill Stivers, an experienced salesman at Alchemy-Spetec distributor Sunshine Supply.

As a Salesman at Sunshine Supply, I’ve dealt with a lot of leak seal products over the years.  But I don’t often get the chance to try them out on my own property.  I recently, however, had an issue with a leaking swimming pool in my own back yard.  Water was draining through the seams between the slabs of my pool deck and causing erosion.  In addition, ground squirrels and rabbits had been digging around the area over the years, causing further issues with soil displacement.  The pool deck was destabilized along with the wall surrounding the pool.  They had both slipped about a half an inch down a small hill on one side.  Some bricks around the pool had settled about 2 inches.  My extensive experience in this field told me that this was just the beginning of a much more serious problem.  The leaking water had to be contained and the soil around the structures had to be stabilized immediately.

Due to my position at Sunshine Supply, I am familiar with a wide range of leak seal products, and there was one that I knew would be ideal for this job: Spetec PUR H200.  We injected deep into the soil on the hillside via 6-foot injection pipes.  We used an F-Valve to simultaneously inject water along with the resin to jump-start the reaction process.  (The wet soil would have caused the resin to react anyways, but the added water kick started the reaction process for a quicker install of the material.)  This process prevents the wall and pool deck from further slippage by stopping the seeping water and stabilizing the supporting soil.

If you live in any of the following areas and want to buy your leak seal supplies from distributors with expert knowledge of the products, make sure you contact Sunshine Supply at any of the following locations:

• Anaheim
• Denver
• Ontario
• Salt Lake
• San Diego
• San Marcos

Want more information on Alchemy-Spetec leak seal products?

The new stainless-steel block for the MixMaster Pro concrete leveling gun is an option you may want to consider. This stronger, more durable gun block was developed to prevent stripping of injector ports (which can sometimes happen with the aluminum block if the ports are over-tightened). 

There are no problems with the aluminum block as long as all your crew members are trained not to over-tighten the ports.  But if you would like that extra level of projection and durability, consider spending a little more for the stainless-steel option.

Want more info on the MixMaster Pro concrete leveling gun?

It's important every now and then to take a look at what's popular on the Alchemy-Spetec blog.  Topics that are important to other customers may be important to you.  Our 3 most popular blog posts in the last 30 days are:

• Hydrophobic vs Hydrophilic: Polyurethanes
• Stop Erosion Through Your Seawall with Polyurethane
• An In-Depth Look at Polyurethane Seawall Repair

The Hydrophobic vs Hydrophilic post always been popular.  It's critical to understand the difference between hydrophobic and hydrophilic resins if you want to choose the right product for the job at hand.  The other two top performers in the last 30 days are seawall repair articles.  That's no surprise as we are smack-dab in the middle of the summer season.  People are more likely to be spending time in the water around their property and noticing seawall issues.  If you're contractor, refresh your seawall repair knowledge by reading those articles!  If you're a property owner with a seawall issue, read those articles to educate yourself and then call us to help you find a contractor!

In addition to checking out those three currently popular posts, you can browse all our posts by topic:

• Seal Leaks (125)
• Lift Slabs (112)
• Stabilize Soil (71)
• Business Tips (66)
• Equipment & Accessories (45)
• Repair Seawalls (30)
• Waterstop (23)
• Deep Lift (18)
• Repair Cracks (14)
• NSF Certification (13)
• Floor Repair (9)
• Fill Voids (1)

Want more information on Alchemy-Spetec products?

Leak Seal & Geotech Products & Procedures

October 9th & 10th, 2019 at Alchemy-Spetec HQ in Tucker, GA

Get ready for a thorough education in Leak Seal, Slab Lifting, Soil Stabilization and the Alchemy-Spetec Deep Lift™ process. You’ll get hands-on training from a technical staff with decades of on-the-job experience.

Wednesday - Leak Seal

• Leak Seal Product Line Overview
• Curtain Grouting
• Permeation Grouting
• Leak-Seal Product Mixing
• Pump & Packer Overviews
• Leak-Seal Accessories
• Municipal Applications
• Live Injection Demos
• Open Discussions

Thursday - Geotech

• Geotech Product Line Overview
• Soil Stabilization
• Geotech Product Mixing
• Rig & Mobile System Overviews
• Geotechnical Accessories
• Slab Lifting Live Demo
• Deep Lift™ Overview
• Soil Testing with the
• GPR & Penetrometer
• Maintenance Discussions
• Pricing / Estimating / Cost Savings
• Open Discussions

Participants receive a Samsung tablet loaded with training material.

Your Instructors:

Stephen C. Barton (President/CEO), Jim Spiegel (VP Sales & Business Development), Andy Powell (Southeastern Regional Manager), Anthony Sandone (Eastern Regional Manager), Charlie Lerman (Western Regional Manager), and Michael Binyaminov (Western Sales Representative). 

I recently consulted with the city of Othello, WA on an interesting application for the leak seal product Spetec PUR HighFoamer.

A galvanized corrugated steel pipe was being used for stormwater drainage to an irrigation canal. The pipe had rusted over time, and water was coming out around the pipe causing the bank to erode. The city put a 25' stick of HDPE pipe inside the existing steel pipe. A hole was Vactor'ed out and two zerks were tapped into the to the metal pipe.

Spetec PUR HighFoamer was injected between the metal host pipe and the smaller HDPE pipe. The system was in-service and had flow during the procedure. The Spetec PUR HighFoamer filled the annular space between the two pipes and stopped the water traveling between the pipes.

As you can see in the "before" photograph below, there was a separate outflow stream to the right of the main stream due to leaking in between the pipe layers (outlined by a red oval).  The red circle below shows where the stream from the leak was hitting the side of the bank.  After Spetec PUR HighFoamer is installed between the pipe layers, the leak is sealed, that separate outflow stream is gone and the bank is no longer getting soaked.  The pipe is now functioning exactly as it should.

Want more information on Alchemy-Spetec leak seal products?

Alchemy-Spetec offers a variety of accessories for use with the geotech product line.  In this post, we'll take a brief tour.  If you have any questions about these products, don't hesitate to call us at 404-618-0438.

Alchemy-Spetec offers a variety of accessories for use with the leak seal product line.  In this post, we'll take a brief tour.  If you have any questions about these products, don't hesitate to call us at 404-618-0438.

Electric Injection Pumps

Alchemy-Spetec offers world-class Titan electric injection pumps for sealing both small and gushing leaks as well as filling voids behind and below structures.  Read more here...

Additional Equipment

Additional leak seal equipment includes the High Pressure Crack Injection Valve, the F-Valve Assembly, the Flush Wand, Oakum, and an extensive line of Packers and Ports.  Read more here...

Spetec Pump Cleaner

Spetec Pump Cleaner is a non-flammable solvent for cleaning uncured polyurethane from injection equipment. 

AP Soak 130

AP Soak 130 is a reusable, non-flammable solvent for cleaning cured resin from metal components.

Spetec Surface Guard

Spetec Surface Guard is a temporary coating for protecting concrete from polyurethane resin stains during  injection jobs.

AP Lube 190

AP Lube 190 is a lubricant for preventing isocyanate from setting up inside pumps or hoses.

Spetec Gel Reinforcing Agent

Spetec Gel Reinforcing Agent is an acrylic latex additive used to increase the strength and flexibility of our AG series of acrylic gels.

Want more information on the Alchemy-Spetec leak seal product line?

Alchemy-Spetec is pleased to announce a customized version of the popular Estimate Rocket invoicing, client management and CRM tool for contractors.  The custom version includes material estimating calculators for Alchemy-Spetec geotech polyurethanes.  These calculators make it easy to figure out the amount of material you'll need for any given job.  Sign up now via this Alchemy-Spetec link to get the customized version!  (Visiting the Estimate Rocket site in any manner aside from the links we provide will get you the generic, non-customized version.)

Paperless Workflow

Creating impressive proposals has never been easier with Estimate Rocket’s easy-to-use business templates. Leave a lasting impression with professional paperless estimates and invoices you can create and deliver to clients in seconds. 

Job & Client Management

Keep your clients most important information organized and at your fingertips 24/7. The system automatically saves and organizes current and previous jobs, contact information, notes, and more.

Powerful CRM Tools

Stay connected with customer relationship management tools that keep you more responsive than ever before. Automated reminders and appointment scheduling let you know when to take action. Automated Follow-Ups stay in touch with your customers automatically.

Team Collaboration

Bring your entire team with an easy to use web-portal where crews can view appointments, field estimators can build estimates, and accountants can send out invoices.

Financial Reports

View up to the minute reports and know exactly where every job stands. Advanced reporting gives greater depth with detailed job statistics. Easily export to QuickBooks or other accounting software that imports CSV files.

Access on Any Device

Whether you’re on site with a customer or back in the office, you always have complete access to all features. Estimate Rocket works on Mac, PC, iOS, Android, Blackberry and any other web-enabled device.

AS Material Estimation Calculators

As mentioned previously, the Alchemy-Spetec customized version of Estimate Rocket features AS geotech material estimation calculators built in!

Spetec Gel Reinforcing Agent is an acrylic latex additive used to increase the strength and flexibility of our AG series of acrylic gels: Spetec AG100, Spetec AG200 and AP SoilGel 200.

Advantages

• Improved adhesion.
• Increased hydrostatic pressure resistance.
• Improved resistance to wet/dry cycles.
• Improved low temperature flexibility.
• Minimizes hydrophilic shrinkage in dry cycling.
• Solvent free.
• Non-toxic.

Field of Application

• Soil stabilization in below grade structures when used in conjunction with the AG series of products.
• Leak seal in below grade structures when used in conjunction with the AG series of products.

Want more info on Alchemy-Spetec products?

AP Lube 190 is a multi-purpose lubricant for use with both electric injection pumps and proportioner/reactor pumps. 

Advantages

• Extends the life of the electric injection pump.
• Protects and extends the life of pump packings.
• Prevents isocyanate from setting up inside pump or hoses.

Field of Application

• Lubricating electric injection pumps.
• Flushing out proportioner/reactor pumps for long-term storage.
• Lubricating A-side pump line on proportioner/reactor pumps.

Want more info on Alchemy-Spetec products?